HARDWARES

Add Connecticut’s SACRED OATH to the ‘this band could have been huge if not for their locale’ list. Anyone who has actually been to the band’s hometown of Danbury (I used to work there) would wonder how a band with so much promise could ever make it in the music biz coming from such a small, rural town. Musically, if Sacred Oath had hailed from the Bay Area or the UK, they would have fit in perfectly within the metal landscape of the day. Forming in 1985, Sacred Oath released two demos before their 1987 full-length debut, A Crystal Vision. They were primed and ready to take on the metal world, but record label setbacks and member problems led to the band’s exit in 1988. Almost 20 years later, they finally released their sophomore effort, Darkness Visible. Since that 2007 album, the band has steadily released two follow-up albums. Sacred Oath’s foundation is similar to US power metal bands such as FATES WARNING, QUEENSRŸCHE, OMEN, JAG PANZER and AGENT STEEL. Guitarists Rob Thorne and Bill Smith alternate between Bay Area thrash and NWOBHM-styled pacing by utilizing chugging riffs and charging dual leads. Spells and Incantations: the best of Sacred Oath is a compilation containing 14 tracks spanning the band’s four albums including two previously unreleased bonus tracks. For whatever reason that led to Sacred Oath’s obscurity, there’s no excuse now for overlooking this hidden gem of a band.